The Futures Newest Project
by devil-in-training
Summary: The next generation is trying to change the past, Using a series of new spells that have brought 3 groups of people together to read some books. My version of reading the books.
1. Introductions

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I do own Azalea, Charlotte, Aster and Olivia, as well as S and G that come after O in the letters. You will find out who they are later, a lot later.**

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20th October 2017

"Are you sure this is going to work?" asked a tall girl with long, pale blonde hair.

"Of course it is Vic, we have done all the research. Even McGonagall and Flitwick believe it will work." Grabbing the girl by the shoulders he spun her around so that he could look her in the eyes, "This is going to work. Livia, Luce, are you guys finished with those letters."

The two red headed girls looked up "Yep," replied the older looking one, "Read this."

After all 14 people had passed and signed the bottom of the letters they were ready to be sent back to the past.

31st October 2001

"Harry, Harry, where are you?" Charlotte Evans-Black called as she stumbled through the front door of number 12 Grimmauld Place.

"Lottie, is that you?" replied a soft female voice from one of the rooms upstairs. "We are up in Harry's room," the voice continued without waiting for Lottie to answer. In the room Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and the toddler Teddy Lupin were all waiting for Lottie to arrive. They had some very important business to sort out. Harry had received a letter claiming it was from the future. Sitting in various places they all leaned in to hear Harry read the letter.

_Dear Harry._

_At the moment you will only know who one of us is, but we have written this not to give you some very important news. Here in 2017 we have found a way to bring past and present people together for a period of time in a single room or house. We have decided to use this knowledge to give yourselves and some others a chance to change what has happened. We ask you to be in the room of requirement by the 12th of November 2001 before the time of 12pm. More will be explained on this date. Please gather the following people to view this letter: Ginerva Weasley, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Charlotte Evans-Black, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Teddy Lupin._

_Signed,_

_T, V, D, L, L, M, R, F, J, A, L, O, S, G._

_P.S. all you need to do is ask for a place to read_

31st October 1977

"Evans, please hear me out!" exclaimed a tall boy with messy black hair and glasses covering his hazel eyes.

"No Potter, I will not hear you out because I do not want to be asked out by you again. You would think that being named Head Boy would have made you grow up a little but no." Evans yelled at the boy.

"Evans, I am not here to ask you out, but if you really want me to I can," Potter asked hopefully

"No, Potter"

"Anyway I need to show you this," he said pulling a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket.

_James,_

_You and you friends have no idea who we are, and if your life continues on the path it is currently on none of you ever will. I am asking you and the people mentioned below to be in the room of requirement by the 12th of November before the time of 12pm. More will be explained on this date. Please bring the following people to the room: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Lily Evans, Azalea Evans, Aster Black, Regulus Black and Severus Snape. We understand that you may be resistant or unwilling to approach some of these people, but for the good of the future we ask that you still do._

_Signed,_

_T, V, D, L, L, M, R, F, J, A, L, O, S, G._

_P.S. all you need to do is ask for a place to read_

12th November 2017

"Olivia, Lucy, Louis, are you ready?" asked the oldest boy.

"Yes, we are. We have the books and we are in position. All we are waiting for is you to cast the spell. It is one o'clock. We have sent the second set of notes and all we are waiting for now is you to cast the spell. Now hurry up and do it!" the youngest of the three demanded.

He cast the spell and in a flash of white light the three teenagers and the seven books they were carrying disappeared.

12th November 2001

The seven young adults and one toddler were all assembled in the Room of Requirement at 11:45am wondering and waiting for what will happen at 12 noon. When the old Grandfather clock in the corner struck 12 a second letter appeared in as almost blinding flash of white light.

_Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Lottie, Neville, Luna and Teddy,_

_By now you are probably all very curious as to why we have summoned you here today. We from the future have found a series of spells which allow you to change the events of the future, without changing everything. If you get what we mean. Anyway, we have decided to send seven books to you to be read. At 1pm you will be transported to another location where three of our number plus eight from your past will join you. We will be better equipped to explain more at this time. Please wait here until we transport you._

_Signed,_

_T, V, D, L, L, M, R, F, J, A, L, O, S, G._

_P.S. We ask you please not to curse anyone._

At one pm without warning a ball of white light engulfed the group. With a small pop and a flash they all disappeared.

12th November 1977

Eight severely disgruntled teenagers met in the Room of Requirement at 11:50am. After waiting in an uncomfortable silence for ten minuted the clock struck 12. At this moment a second letter appeared in a flash of bright, white light. It read:

_James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, Azalea, Aster, Severus and Regulus,_

_By now you are probably all very curious as to why we have summoned you here today. We from the future have found a series of spells which allow you to change the events of the future, without changing everything. If you get what we mean. Anyway, we have decided to send seven books to you to be read. At 1pm you will be transported to another location where three of our number plus eight from your near future will join you. We will be better equipped to explain more at this time. Please wait here until we transport you._

_Signed,_

_T, V, D, L, L, M, R, F, J, A, L, O, S, G._

_P.S. We ask you please not to curse anyone._

At one pm without warning a ball of white light engulfed the group. With a small pop and a flash they all disappeared.

Date Unknown

Three quick flashes of light deposited the here groups of people onto the floor. The smallest of the group of three stood up the quickest and started to talk.

"Before anyone freaks out, how about we all introduce ourselves and then we will explain why we have brought you all here. My name is Olivia and I am 13. Please don't tell your surname yet. We will cross that path when it comes." She then gestured to the only male in their group of three.

"My name is Louis, and I am 15."

Then there was only one person left in that group to introduce herself. The oldest female stood up and said, "I am Lucy and I am also 15 years old. We are from the year 2017. How about Harry's group introduces themselves next?"

Harry stood to introduce himself and Teddy and his friends to the other people in the room. "Um, my name is Harry. I am 21, and this is Teddy, he is three. The man with red hair is Ron, he is also 21. Neville and Hermione, the girl with the brown hair, are 21and 22 respectively. The shortest blonde is Charlotte, the red head is Ginny and the other girl with the blonde hair is Luna. Those 3 are all 20. Um, we are from 2001"

"Why are we not able to tell ever one our surnames? It is not like it will be too hard to figure out?" Asked the boy who looked to be the youngest of the last group who was yet to be introduced.

"Well, if you would just hurry up and introduce your selves we would be able to tell you now wouldn't we? Now if everybody else can refrain from making stupid comments this whole business will go a lot faster." Olivia snapped at him.

"Whatever, I am Regulus and I am 16," Regulus said. Another boy stood to introduce himself. He has the same neat wavy black hair and greyish eyes. The only difference was that he looked a little older.

"I am Sirius, I am 17 and I am the resident troublemaker and ladies' man at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." A third boy, who looked remarkably like the other two but with shorter blonde hair and whose eyes had a more bluish tinge to them started to introduce himself.

"Seeing as our family is going first my name is Aster. I know unfortunate name right. Anyway I am also 17."

"We'll go next shall we," said one of the two red headed girls that were left.

"Sure go ahead." answered the other one.

"My name is Azalea and this is my sister Lily. We are both 17 and our mother had a weird obsession with flowers when we were named." Both of these girls had red hair although Azalea's was a great deal straighter and longer than Lily's but other than that they look pretty much the same. They shared the same green eyes and were within a centimetre of each other in height. A boy who looked remarkably like Harry but with hazel coloured eyes introduced himself next.

"My name is James, I am also 17." Now there was only one boy left to be introduced.

"My name is Severus. I am 17 years old and I don't want to be here." he sneered.

"By the way, we are from 1977," James added.

"Well now that we have all been acquainted and everybody that is supposed to be here is here, I guess we can tell you what this is all about. Lucy would you like to do the honours?" Olivia addressed everyone.

"Okay, 14 of us from 2017 have decided to give all of you the chance to change your future. We have found a way to change the future without actually changing everything. We will tell you more about this at the end. In order to change the future we have brought a series of books that have been written in our time. Your task is to read these books. They are about what has happened in Harry's time. All the people from that time onwards, so Harry and his friends and us, we are here to explain any points that will not be explained in the books. We ask you not to give away anything that will happen later in the books. Another reason that the people from 2001 are here is to give you reassurance that the trials that are faced don't kill Harry. Any questions?" asked Lucy as she finished her speech.

"Do we really have to do this?" Harry asked the three from the future.

"Yes, because technically it was your idea, although you only said it in passing." answered Olivia. "How about we get started, who would like to read first?"

"I will," drawled Regulus, "even though I still don't understand why I am here."

Olivia pulled the first book out of the backpack that was sitting at Louis's feet and handed it to Regulus.

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**An: I will say this only once. I am an Australian Writer so don't rag on me about a spelling mistake unless it is actually a spelling mistake. Now, this is my portrayal of the character. Tell me if you think I did a good, bad or ugly job at introducing and setting the scene. Please review.**


	2. The Boy Who Lived

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER

An: I know this isn't a new chapter, but I left my Hard Drive at the House I Babysit at and am yet to get it back, so I have used this time to fix up some of the discrepancies I found when I started the new chapter. I haven't forgotten about this story, I have just been busy with UNI.

* * *

Regulus started reading "**Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone**"

"Harry Potter, do you reckon he is related to me?" asked James.

"Maybe, but we won't know unless we read. Oi, glasses. Didn't you say your name was Harry?" Sirius yelled across the room.

Regulus started reading again, before Harry had a chance to answer.

**THE BOY WHO LIVED**

**Mr and Mrs Dursley,**

"Dursley, did you just say Dursley?" Lily interrupted.

"Lils, what's wrong with the name Dursley?" asked Azalea.

"Oh, right. You haven't been home for a while. Dursley is the surname of Tuney's boyfriend."

"Petunia got a boyfriend!" stated both Severus and Azalea before turning to death glare each other.

"Yeah, she brought him home a couple of days after you ran off," Lily said. Off to the side Lottie was writing something on a piece of parchment.

**of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

"What nonsense," asked Sirius

"Maybe if you would be quiet and let me read we would find out" Regulus answered roughly.

**Mr Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

"What is a drill?" asked James looking confused.

"A drill is a tool fitted with a cutting tool attachment or driving tool attachment, usually a drill bit or driver bit, used for drilling holes in various materials or fastening various materials together with the use of fasteners." answered Hermione, sounding like she had swallowed a textbook as usual.

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache.**

"Oh, Merlin, it is him," whispered Lily, horrified.

**Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours.**

"That does sounds like Petunia. I thought this was about some kid called Harry Potter. Maybe you and James had a kid Lily." Azalea teased her sister

"If I have a child with Potter I will give you 10 galleons Azzie." Neither of the twins, or any of the others from 1977 for that matter, saw the crew from 2001 positively shaking with silent laughter.

"Your mum is about to lose 10 galleons to mine Harry," whispered Lottie.

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs Potter was Mrs Dursley's sister,**

"No, please no. Anything but this," spluttered Lily in complete horror.

"Yes, Evans will say yes." James said starting a small one man party from his perch next to the bookshelf.

"Don't get too excited Potter, we don't know for sure" Lily said back to him.

"Face it Lil, we do know. Mrs Dursley is Tunia and you are the future Mrs Potter." teased Azalea. While Lily was panicking, James was partying and Azalea was teasing, Remus was looking between Harry, James and Lily, spotting the most obvious similarities. Hermione nudged Lottie who then shared a small smile knowing that the smartest of the marauders had figured it out.

**but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"A child like what," asked Luna in her forever dreamy voice.

"A wizard Luna," answered Ginny.

**When Mr and Mrs Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was** **nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr Dursley hummed as he picked out his most** **boring tie for work, and Mrs Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

"What a happy family," said Aster, "sound kind of like mine" as he finished this sentence Sirius snorted in the background.

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window. At half past eight, Mr Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke,"**

"There's nothing little about him," Harry muttered.

"Too right," said Ron as well, but a bit louder causing some of the others to look.

**chortled Mr Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map.**

"Minnie!" exclaimed the three marauders that were present.

"Excuse me?" asked Hermione.

"Your excused." answered James.

"Minnie is what we call Professor McGonagall," explained Remus gently, while James and Sirius laughed over James's little joke.

**For a second, Mr Dursley didn't realize what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back.**

"Minnie!" they shouted again. Hermione and Lucy groaned. Lucy shook her head in exasperation while Louis and Olivia laughed, used to this type of behaviour from their cousins.

**As Mr Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. Mr Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

"Wait, what are drills again?" asked Sirius.

"A drill-"

"Hermione, he heard you the first time, he is just kidding," Ginny, who was sitting next to her, muttered in Hermione's ear.

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

As many of the pureblood's looked as if they were about to ask a question, Lottie said, "Muggles don't wear cloaks or robes."

"How do you know that?"

"I am a half-blood Ronald. My mother was a muggle-born." Lottie told him.

"Oh, yeah."

**Mr Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck –**

"Light bulb!" shouted Azalea. All those who understood the joke laughed along with her, while the others, most prominently the pure-bloods, looked thoroughly confused.

**Mr Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

"Someone's got a severe case on one-track-mind-it is."

"Shut up Sirius!" Aster and Regulus said in unison.

**Mr Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open- mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.**

"What's so odd about seeing owls?" asked Sirius, but Regulus just kept reading over the top of him while the others laughed.

**Most of them had never seen an owl even at night-time**.

"I still don't get it," Sirius whined, and ignored he was again.

**Mr Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning.**

"Will someone please tell me what is so wrong about seeing owls!" shouted Sirius so that Regulus had to stop reading.

"Muggles don't use owls the way that we do," Remus told him gently, while most of the others, who hadn't witnessed a Black temper before, were looking at him with a mix of shock and fear plastered upon their faces.

**He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"He knows how to do that?" asked Harry.

"What buy a bun?" asked Lottie, who had, had the misfortune of meeting Vernon once when she was a small child.

"No," said Harry, "be in a good mood and walk!"

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's.**

"Ah, seems like a case of short term memory loss," diagnosed Lily sarcastically

**He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Harry"**

At this point James, Sirius and Remus froze and looked at Harry, who whispered (almost inaudibly) one word, "Halloween." Ginny, hearing this gently leaned in to nudge him with her shoulder, to show that he is not alone anymore.

**Mr Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it. He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid.**

"Well at least he realised the truth once in his life" Lily said scornfully, glaring at the book.

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

Hermione turned to Harry and whispered "Does he even know your name now?"

"Well, I think he may have used it once or twice."

**There was no point in worrying Mrs Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a sister like that**

"Like what?"

"A witch Luna," Neville answered her, reminding everyone that they were still there.

"It is not my family, so stop saying what is not true. It may be a different Dursley Family," Lily argued.

**... but all the same, those people in cloaks... He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

**"Sorry," he grunted,**

"OMG, I don't think I have ever heard him use that word!" exclaimed Olivia, once she realised that she said that out loud be turned a magnificent colour red which clashed with her hair. All of the others turned to stare at her.

"How would you know?" asked Louis.

"I'll tell you later." She muttered still embarrassed. Harry was wondering if maybe this girl was his kid. To know Uncle Vernon, it was either him or Lottie.

**as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passers-by stare,**

**"Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!" And the old man hugged Mr Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

"Anyone reckon that was Flitwick?"

"Luce, who else would be that nice to a huge muggle man that just knocked them over," Louis answered.

"Flitwick is still there!" exclaimed everyone else, other that Olivia.

"Yeah. Flitwick, McGonagall and Hagrid." Lucy told them.

**Mr Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was.**

"Oh he damn well knows what a muggle is; he is just trying to ignore what is staring at his face. I mean I agree he doesn't know what a muggle is and he is not my future brother-in-law because it is a different Dursley Family" Lily vented to whoever was listening to her.

"Keep dreaming Lils, keep dreaming," Azalea told her.

**He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination. As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning.**

"Minnie!" Now Louis had joined the marauders in the yelling.

**It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

**"Shoo!" said Mr Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behaviour?**

"Well, Duh!" said James.

"Because it's Minnie!" the marauders all yelled together again

**Mr Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife. Mrs Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").**

"Charming," Snubbed Lily, sounding just like Petunia.

**Mr Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin.**

**"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

**"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight." Mr Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters... Mrs Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good.**

"What the tea?"

"Shut up Sirius."

**He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously.**

**"Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?" As he had expected, Mrs Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."**

**"So?" snapped Mrs Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... her crowd." Mrs Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"Nasty common name is it. Harry was grandfather's name." quipped Azalea.

"I was named after our Great Grandfather?" Harry whispered to Lottie

"Yeah didn't I tell you? You were named after great grandfather Evans and I was named after great grandmother Evans. Mum told me once that they had the entire naming system of their children organised when they were seven." Lottie whispered back.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree." He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there.**

"Minnie."

"Guys that is starting to get old now." (Olivia)

"No it's not" (Louis)

"Yes it is"

"No it's not"

"Yes."

"No"

"Y-"

"Shut up both of you. Now!" Ginny and Lottie screamed at the squabbling pair, who both had the decency to pretend to look ashamed while the others were trying hard not to laugh in the background.

**It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something. Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it. The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over - it couldn't affect them... How very wrong he was. Mr Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat**

"Minnie!"

**on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat**

"Minnie!"

**moved at all. A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed. Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

"Dumbledore!"

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore. Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat,**

"Minnie!"

**which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered,**

**"I should have known." He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter.**

Ron patted his pocket softly at the mention of the deluminator, while sharing a look with Harry and Hermione.

**He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it. "Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall." He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one.**

"If Professor McGonagall was the head of Gryffindor at this time, then why is she wearing green?" Olivia asked the group.

"We were too afraid to ask her," answered Sirius.

**Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily. "Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

"Eleven years," Lily repeated, "this all happens in four years. The war will only last another four years." Shocked all the people from the earliest time sat deadly still as Regulus continued reading.

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumours." She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"**

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

**"A what?"**

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of"**

"Lemon drops are nice. We sell them at the café." Olivia said as if she had forgotten there was an audience.

"What café?" asked Lottie.

"Beth's." It was this answer that confirmed it to both Lottie and Harry who Olivia was related to.

"Who is Beth, is she one of your friends?" asked Remus.

"No," stated Hermione, "Beth's is a Café in Hogsmead. It sells both muggle and Magical sweets, drinks and other stuff."

"Oh, so does your family own it Olivia?" Remus asked again.

"Yeah, it is named after my -" Olivia was roughly cut off by Louis who had shoved his hand over her mouth making her unable to finish her sentence. It was here that Regulus decided to begin reading as he sensed another argument about to break out between them because Olivia had just bitten Louis's hand.

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort." Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

**"I know you haven't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You – Know – oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."**

"Umm," started Regulus, "I don't think you guys are going to like this very much. I sort of read ahead and well"

Can you pass me the book for a second?" asked Harry, as he was reading the chapter he was visible getting paler and paler. "I want to ask you to not interrupt for the rest of the chapter. I know it will be hard but please stay quiet." He handed to book up to Lottie, who was perched atop a wooden side table next to the armchair in which both Harry and Ginny as squeezed into, who nodded to him in agreement, handing the book back to Regulus so that he could continue reading.

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

**"Only because you're too - well - noble to use them."**

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs." Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said,**

**"The owls are nothing next to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?" It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer. "What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumour is that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - dead."**

At this statement Lily paled, drew her knees up to her body and leaned into the embrace of her sister, while James simply fainted. After Sirius and Remus woke him, both of whom looked close to crying, Regulus continued to read in a slightly shaky voice.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped. "Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... Oh, Albus..." Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder.**

**"I know... I know..." he said heavily. Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on.**

**"That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone. Dumbledore nodded glumly. "It's - it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

**"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

"He knew the whole time," Harry hissed softly, but angrily, in parsletounge making many of the others look around for the source of the noise.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"**

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

"No! No, not Petunia, anybody but Petunia. Why isn't he being sent to you?" Lily sobbed while gesturing to Azalea.

"We will tell you when the chapter is finished." Lottie said to try and placate the sobbing girl.

**"You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future**

"Thank God it's not. I think I would have died from the shame." moaned Harry while all the people from his time laughed at his expense.

**- there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!"**

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course.**

"No, no he's not right. Stand your ground Professor." Lily whispered still in shock.

**But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

**"You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?" A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

"That's mine. That's my bike." Sirius squealed while jumping up and down, the horror seemingly forgotten for the minute. It also worked in getting James and Lily to smile and Severus to scowl.

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol." Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

It was this description that caused Lily, James and Sirius to look up at Harry. Looking properly at him for the first time they saw the shadow of the scar beneath his fringe. The first to react was Sirius who jumped on him and Ginny screaming "I have a godson".

The next was James who walked up to Harry slowly and whispered "I have a son."

It was at this point that Lily walked up next to him, smiled and said, "No, we have a son."

**"Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever." "Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with." Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I - could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**

"This is why I always loved Hagrid. He cares so much about everybody." reminisced Harry, everyone that knew (and liked) Hagrid agreed.

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir." Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply. Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

**"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

"They just left you on the doorstep!" screeched Lily, "how can they leave a toddler on a doorstep. What if you woke up? What it you rolled away? What if a random muggle had kidnapped you? What if the Deatheaters had come and snatched you? What if…" Lily's tirade eventually settled down to a point where she was just mumbling to herself. Regulus took this opportunity to continue reading.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!**

It was here that Regulus closed the book and placed it on the ground in front of him, waiting like all the others were for an explanation. After a few minutes of silence it was Lucy who moved and spoke first. "Olivia, Louis, we need to work this out." Picking up the book she walked through one of the doors situated at the back of the room. Louis and Olivia followed.

"We need to decide what to tell them. Teddy and Vic never said that they would ask questions like this. We weren't told how to answer this type of question. Are we able to contact Teddy and ask him? What if he doesn't know what to say? How are we supposed to fix this? What if we have made a major mistake? Maybe we should just wipe their memories and pretend that this never happened?"

"Lucy, Lucy!" Olivia said trying to stop Lucy's rambling before just slapping her cheek, which effectively shut her up. "Merlin, you are just like your Father. You couldn't have taken any of the humorous traits from the Weasley family could you? All we have to do is decide what is safe to tell them at this point, without giving away all the details."

"What if we just start by explaining the relationship between Uncle Harry and Aunt Lottie, and tell them why Harry was sent to the Dursleys and not to Azalea." Louis reasoned to the two girls.

"I think we should leave out the fact that Uncle Harry and Lottie are related and just tell them why he didn't get sent to Azalea. Because Mum told me that he was never told." Olivia answered, "What do you think Luce?"

"How about we go with what Liv suggested, because the rest will be explained in the book. We just need to get Aunt Lottie to tell the story. No-one else knows exactly why."

"But getting Aunt Lottie to tell the story will make the relationship between the two obvious."

"Ok, Luce we will go with Louis' plan"

When the youngest generation entered the main room again it all went silent and everyone returned to their seats. While they were out the rest of the inhabitants had split into three groups. Regulus and Severus had retreated to the furthest corner of the room, far away from the marauders. The Marauders, Lily, Aster and Azalea were sitting together discussing and digesting what they had just read. While Harry and his crew were still in their original positions, sitting still and all looking slightly pale at what they had just read. Louis walked over to Harry's are and told them what is going to be revealed now and what had to wait until later. Once he had finished Lottie paled even further, her skin looking almost translucent, her face showing obvious fear at what she had to reveal to the room.

"We have decided this is the easiest way to tell you why Harry was never sent to live with Azalea. Lottie?"

"I am so sorry Harry." Lottie whispered to him before she stood up and moved to the front of the room. Taking a deep breath she turned to face the people that were congregated before her. Standing still she closed her eyes and relaxed. At first nothing happened until Remus gasped, noticing the changes first. The first change was to her body, she had shrunk slightly, her knees were changing to sit slightly higher and she had to step out of her shoes because they were now too big. Other changes to her body were not as noticeable because of her clothes, but they sat looser on her frame. The next noticeable change was to her hair, it was growing longer almost like it had not been cut for a long time and it was darkening. A few moments later it was a red colour. Not quite as dark as the other red heads in the room. Fidgeting a little Lottie took another deep breath and opened her eyes. They had changed from a pale blue to green, slightly darker then Harry's eyes. It was Harry who reacted first, standing and moving forward slowly, utterly speechless. Before anybody else could react Lottie asked Harry to sit down and she started with the story.

"In the will of Lily and James Potter it stated that if anything ever happened to them Harry would go to Sirius. This request could not be followed because of certain circumstances. Remus was not allowed to claim custody because of a certain medical problem. In the case where no-one else is named in the will the child goes to the closest family member. In this case it was Petunia Dursley."

"But why not Azzie?" Lily interrupted.

"On the fourth of August 1979 there was an attack on a muggle ballet studio where Azalea Evans was rehearsing for a show. She and her boyfriend, who was watching the rehearsal were outnumbered by the death eaters and believed dead. Because of them all but one of the muggles survived the attack."

"So I'm dead."

"No, well yes, but you didn't die in that fight. Only five people knew that Azalea Evans and her boyfriend, well fiancé were still alive; Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. All these people had sworn under an unbreakable vow not to tell anybody especially Dumbledore and Voldemort. It was because of this that Dumbledore had to send Harry to Aunt Petunia." It was after mentioning these two words that Lottie's had flew to her mouth and a look of horror crossed her face.

"So, you're my daughter?"

Lottie nodded meekly and retook her seat while Lucy declared that, that was all they were able to reveal right now and it was time to read the next chapter of the book.

* * *

**AN: The chapter is now finished. I had to figure out some way that Harry still lived with Petunia, but had other family. Please Review and be nice**


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